We had Summer like weather here over the weekend and finally got to break out the Capri pants and short sleeve shirts. Love that! It’s so much fun to see your favorite duds from last summer. Another thing I love that comes with a change in seasons is a change in our menu! On Friday I was out shopping and decided to stop and buy the ingredients to make one of our favorite warm weather meals.

These fabulous Chicken Souvlaki kabobs with Tzatziki Sauce were a crowd pleaser. I went ahead and marinated the extra chicken breasts I had but they weren’t as flavorful as the meat on the kabobs. We enjoyed leftovers all weekend long.

They do take a bit of time to create but they are well worth the effort.

On Saturday we hiked the Windy Point Trail which is known for beautiful flowers this time of year.

It is a steep, rough trail but then you are rewarded with a gorgeous color bath!

It was an amazing sight to see all those California poppies.

Guess who had the camera in his pocket?

I even got to try out my new water proof hiking boots.

One of the trail groups that maintains the trails had a rope rigged up to help people make the crossing.

It came in handy.

Hubby Tom was so proud of himself for documenting my crossing that I just had to share it with you.

My feet stayed nice and dry.

Our lunch spot view.

Nutmeg Notes

I never found the time to get a post up last Friday – it was crazy busy around here.This morning I weighed and was down another 2.2 pounds for a total of 15.4 pounds gone! This is week 12 plus 3 days on the 17 Day Diet.I had a little stall the week of our anniversary and it took another week to get things going in a losing direction again. I’m not complaining. I think I look pretty good at this weight but my thighs are still chunky!!! I’m going to continue to work on firming things up, do my resistance training, continue to hike and walk and see what happens with my weight distribution. If I do drop a couple more pounds that will be okay since I will be shopping for a dress for daughter Katy’s wedding! I surely don’t want any extra weight for those wedding day photos!

Live & Learn

Last week I decided to introduce some black bean chips into my food plan so I could make some nachos -that wasn’t a good idea. They were just carby enough to make me want more which I did – and I ended up having at least 3 servings full (at that point I wasn’t counting) plus a Kashi bar for dessert! Then I felt bloated and lousy for doing that. I tossed the rest of the black bean chips – didn’t even keep them to post about! The next day my brain wanted more carbs but I stuck with a lower carb day and by the following day the carb cravings were gone. It just proved to me once again how carb sensitive I am and how addicting carbs can be for me.

I think finding the right balance of carbs and the type of carbs I can handle will just take some trial and error practice. I’m up to the challenge!

Tami

Add Your Thoughts

Are you carb sensitive?

Are there any foods you can’t have in your pantry because they are a trigger for you to eat more?

Great post and progress report, Tami. Congrats on your continued success with 17DD. I have found myself in like case several times recently–buy a bag of something “carby,” thinking I can stay away from it or eat it in small reasonable amounts, only to find myself exceeding the “feed limit” and then destroying the remainder of the offending carby treats (squishing and then pouring water on them is my preferred revenge on those bad carbs! That hike looks challenging! Have you ever tried hiking poles? Sharon (Gains & Losses) got us hooked. They’re great in uneven terrain.

Tami says:

Sounds like I am in good company with being carb sensitive. I love how you pour water on the offending food and destroy it! LOL!

If you look closely you can see my trekking poles in the photos – they just don’t show up very well. We wouldn’t hike without them – what a difference make in balance and taking the pressure off our knees.

Love the hike photos. Have never seen the rope to help one on water crossings. How ingenious!

Congrats on the consistent weight loss. You’ve done great! I still can’t believe how well this has worked for both of us. And as you well know, I am extremely carb sensitive. I’ve learned that lesson well and hope I can remain as diligent as I’ve been over the past few months. I always know one bite is all it would take!

Tami says:

Sharon there are a couple of very active hiking groups in our area that work on maintaining the trails. They leave ropes in place to help people make the crossings, they clear downed trees and clear away over grown ares on the trail. In fact most weekends there are volunteers on horseback riding on the trails, they have maps and emergency supplies. They were a certain vest with a badge on it and they will answer your trail questions and offere assistance if needed.

Sometimes they will have a table set up at a popular trail head and pass out maps! It’s really awesome. When hubby retires we will join one of the clubs and help maintain the trails.

I am so happy that you are doing well on our 17 DD food plan! You are so right about that one bite!

Tami says:

I have lots of stuff in the house that could be trigger foods for me and I know if I eat one bite it will send me looking for more! Once my kids are moved out there are a lot of things I won’t keep in the pantry!

I can be sensitive to carbs, but it really depends on the type and how much exercise I am doing. On my long ride days, I can eat a lot of carbs and I don’t crave more, probably because my body just uses them all up.

I find I can have a lot of trouble with rice and granola – but I have been known to have issues with nuts as well, so it isn’t necessarily just carbs for me.

Hi Tami, congrats on another great weigh in, and WOW….what beautiful scenery!!!! Especially those fields of poppies. I would have had a hard time not whirling around and breaking into my best Julie Andrew’s Sound of Music…didn’t that movie start out in a field of poppies? Have a wonderful week.

Congratulations on your continued success with the 17DD! If my memory serves me you have now surpassed the original amount of weight you wanted to lose?

I always find it interesting that every woman I know has some area of her body that se wishes was distributed differently. While I do think we can make some changes I also firmly believe that some of it is just the way each of us is naturally shaped… which means we have to learn to love ourselves just like we are!

Beautiful poppy photos, Tami! I’ve never seen them in bloom en masse, so that was a special treat today! thank you!

The only carb sensitivity I have is a mental thing. I can eat certain carb-rich foods (cookies! brownies!) away from home and be more than satisfied with a single serving. Put them in my pantry, and they call out to me. I’ve gotten pretty good at telling them to shut up when I do have them in the house, but I’ve found it easier to just leave them in the bakeries and restaurants where I can go enjoy them in peace (and in small pieces.:))

Congratulations on the weight loss, Tami! You progress has been so inspiring!

I am definitely carb sensitive. Just when I think I can slowly add small amounts of something back into my routine….BAM…I’m eating way too many servings and won’t stop until I hit the bottom of the container. I need to accept this and stop allowing certain types of food into my house. Overeating healthy foods is still overeating.